Lady Gaga Admits Why She Was 'Too Ashamed' To Befriend Ariana Grande

While the singers sound like a match made in pop star heaven on their new duet “Rain On Me,” harmony wasn’t always on the horizon for the powerhouse pair. As Mother Monster revealed in a new radio interview, Gaga explained how her initial doubts going into making the joint with the “7 Rings” singer transformed into a beautiful, formidable friendship.

Speaking first on the partnership, Gaga recalled seeing Grande through the record with some words of comfort. "I said to her, ‘OK, now everything that you care about while you sing, I want you to forget it and just sing. And by the way, while you're doing that, I'm going to dance in front of you,’" she recalled, via Billboard. "And she was like, 'Oh my God. Oh my God, I can't, I can't. I don't know. Oh my God. OK, OK.' And then I did it and she sang, and she started to do things with her voice that was different. And it was the joy of two artists going, 'I see you.'"

The Grammy-winning artist went on to explain how witnessing Grande’s vulnerability — also to be seen in the song’s upcoming music video — helped Gaga forge an unexpected sisterhood with her gal pal.

"When she came into the studio, I was still crying and she was not. And she was like, 'You're going to be OK. Call me; here's my number,'" Gaga went on. "And she was so persistent. She would try over and over again to be friends with me. And I was too ashamed to hang out with her because I didn't want to project all of this negativity onto something that was healing and so beautiful. And eventually she called me on my s—t. She was, 'You're hiding.' And I was ... and then this friendship blossomed."

“Rain On Me” celebrated its premiere last night (May 22), and it’s the latest offering to arrive from Gaga’s sixth studio album, Chromatica (out May 29), following “Stupid Love.” (See the album cover and track listing here.)